The gloves are coming off in Alberta’s byelection battle as charges and counter-charges fly among political parties. Alberta Party strategist Stephen Carter said Friday the party had filed a complaint with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission regarding the use of an automated dialing system by the Progressive Conservative campaign in Calgary-Elbow.

The Alberta Party says it’s the victim of fraudulent robocalls in the Calgary-Elbow byelection campaign. Party Leader Greg Clark alleges that a series of automated calls were made by an unknown party last week that appeared on call display with the Alberta Party name and number.

A Calgary MP locked in an acrimonious nomination race accused his challenger of conscripting “temporary Tories” to unseat him, while the Conservative party brass rapped his knuckles over misleading phone calls made by his campaign volunteers. Rob Anders told reporters Thursday his opponent, former Alberta finance minister Ron Liepert, has signed up hundreds of Liberals in an attempt to influence the federal Tory nomination vote in Calgary Signal Hill.

Home mail delivery — a familiar part of Canadian life for more than a century — will soon share something in common with buggy whips, floppy disks and VHS tapes: obsolescence. If Canada Post is struggling to find its identity in the Internet age, the Crown corporation is not alone. The current pace of change has many predicting the rapid demise of not only handwritten letters but land line phones, cable TV subscriptions and even books and light switches.

Netflix and Aereo may represent the future of TV for some of us.Then there are those who are quite content with an HD antenna and a few 'old fashioned' over-the-air channels. Whatever your vision of the future of TV is, even if it is somewhere in between, the country's broadcast and telecom regulator wants to know.

Alberta’s new legislation to crack down on robocallers is so weak it can’t even be called a slap on the wrist, says Alberta Liberal Leader Raj Sherman. Legislation passed last year to empower Elections Alberta to crack down on robocallers who don’t provide contact information carries a $500 maximum fine, on conviction in a court. That pales in comparison to the $15,000 per call administrative penalties that the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) can levy for the same offence, without even going to court.

New federal rules that let customers walk away from cellphone contracts after two years and limit roaming fees should help tip the playing field in favour of consumers, says Service Alberta Minister Manmeet Bhullar. But the minister responsible for consumer protection in the province says he’d still like to see additional steps adopted by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to give the public more power — and greater transparency — in their relationship with mobile providers.

The CRTC says it's still on the robocalls case after announcing Wednesday it's hit several political parties, an Edmonton telemarketer and federal politicians - including a Calgary-area MP - with $369,000 in fines as part of a sweeping investigation into the use of automated telephone calls across the country.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission says it’s still on the robocall case after announcing Wednesday that it had levied $369,000 in fines as part of a sweeping review of the political use of robocalls across the country.

Alison Redford’s governing Progressive Conservatives have turned the tables on the official Opposition by asking Elections Alberta to investigate the Wildrose party’s use of robocalls in last year’s provincial election. Municipal Affairs Minister Doug Griffiths requested the investigation in writing Tuesday, calling for the chief electoral officer to determine what effect more than three million automatically-dialed telephone calls on behalf of Wildrose had on the election.

The head of Cogeco Cable slammed the proposed Bell-Astral merger, calling it "very dangerous" and "particularly odious" and said it will make getting TV content on multiple platforms more difficult and expensive.

The 19th annual Willow Park Wines & Spirits (WPWS) Charity Wine Auction, held Nov. 3 at WPWS, was surely one of the best events of the fall social season. The Venice-themed event was sold out weeks prior. More than 450 elegantly attired guests donned their Venetian finest to sip and bid on some of the finest libations there are. Superb samplings from the city’s top restaurants, dancing to the Real Deal Band and over-the-top live auction items ensured all had a memorable time. The event raised $230,000 for Alberta Guide Dog Association, The Poppy Fund & Veterans Food Bank, Haskayne School of Business and Prostate Cancer Centre.

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